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Michele Claibourn
I am a research director – a political scientist, data scientist, community-engaged scholar, and senior administrator – and professor with 20 years of experience teaching, leading, and managing research and data science teams.
My work centers on action-based research, using the tools of data science to promote accountable governance, make social inequities visible, and impact public policy and movement building.
Professional Experience
Leadership
Envision, design, and lead research projects with academic and community partners seeking to understand racial and other disparities and to develop policy responses. Manage multiple projects and train and mentor students engaging in community-engaged data science.
Founded StatLab, a data science consulting service for members of the UVA community. Built a new division within the library to support the growing data science research community at UVA, recruiting, hiring, and managing a team with diverse skills and talents..
Managed a team of 10-12 full-time staff, 3-4 graduate fellows, and research teams across mulitple collaborations on a range of programmatic and research projects.
Last updated on 2023-01-03.
Director of Equitable Analysis, Asst Professor of Public Policy
The Equity Center and The Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia
N/A
2022 - 2021
- Leading the Democratization of Data initiative in the UVA Equity Center to provide data tools, research and analysis in collaboration with leaders and advocates promoting regional equity.
- Teaching courses on data ethics and practice, visualization, and equitable policy in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
- Faculty Affiliate & Lead Data Scientist, Global Policy Center (2019-2021), using predictive analytics on the timing, magnitude, and duration of mass-displacement in partnership with Save the Children, International.
Director, Research Data Services & Sciences
UVA Library, University of Virginia
N/A
2021 - 2013
- Built a new research data services team to support data use and infrastructure, managed and developed library staff and services for the social, natural, and engineering sciences, and provided statistical and data science consultation and instruction to researchers across disciplines including on the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.
- Data Science Director, The Equity Center, 2020-2021 (partial buyout)
- Associate Director, Data Science Institute, 2014-2016 (partial buyout)
Data Scientist
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of Virginia
N/A
2013 - 2011
- Design and conduct quantiative research for local governments, civic sector clients, and the public interest.
Assistant Professor
University of Virginia and University of Oklahoma
N/A
2011 - 2002
- Department of Politics, University of Virginia (2004-2011); Department of Political Science, University of Oklahoma (2002-2004).
- Desiged and taught graduate-level research and statistics courses and undergraduate-level courses on political behavior and political psychology.
- Developed, implemented, and published new research on social capital, electoral responsiveness, and political communication from ideation, data collection and wrangling, analysis and communication.
Instructor
ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods, University of Michigan
N/A
2005 - 2002
Teaching and Writing
20+ years of experience teaching statistics and data science methods, policy, and political behavior to undergraduate and graduate students.
Design data workshop series for student and adult learning communities, including recruiting and mentoring instructors, marketing and assessment, and contributing to select topics.
Experienced writer in multiple formats, from university press books and peer-reviewed journal articles, to action-oriented reports for local and state agencies, educational materials, and informal writing.
Skilled in communicating about data, technology, and policy to stakeholders, advocates, and learners.
Education
PhD., Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
2002 - 1996
B.A, Political Science
Rice University
Houston, TX
1993 - 1989
Teaching and Mentoring
Graduate Courses
University of Virginia and University of Oklahoma
N/A
2022 - 2002
- Imagining Equitable Policy, Public Interest Data: Ethics & Practice, Data Visualization, Saving Lives with Data, Text as Data, Applied Causal Inference, General Linear Models, Linear Models, Applied Time Series, Mixed-Effects Models/Longitudinal Analysis, Introduction to Statistical Analysis
REU Mentor
School of Data Science, UVA
N/A
2022 - 2019
University-wide Workshops
University of Virginia
N/A
2021 - 2013
- Data Science in R, Multiple Imputation, Cluster Analysis, Duration Models, Matching Methods, Mixed-Effects Models,Sentiment Analysis, Topic Modeling, Text Classification, Data Wrangling, Linear Modeling
Undergraduate Courses
University of Virginia and University of Oklahoma
N/A
2020 - 2002
- Project First Gen +, Research Design & Analysis, The Presidency and the Public, Media & Political Communication, Political Pscyology & Decision Making, Citizen Competence in American Democracy, Introduction to American Politics
- Inferential and predictive modeling
- Data visualization and computation
- Text analytics
- R, RStudio, Shiny
- GitHub and reproducibility
- Stata and SPSS
- Some Python and SQL
- Qualitative methods
The source code is available on github.com/mclaibourn/mpc_cv.
Publications
Confederate monuments and the history of lynching in the American South: An empirical examination
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 2021 (With Kyshia Henderson, Samuel Powers, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi, and Sophie Trawalter)
N/A
2021
Bigger on the Inside: Building Research Data Services at the University of Virginia
Insights 28: 100-106
N/A
2015
Citizen Participation and Congressional Responsiveness: New Evidence for Why Participation Matters
Legislative Studies Quarterly 38: 59-82 (With Paul Martin)
N/A
2013
Hearing Campaign Appeals: The Accountability Implications of Campaign Tone
Political Communication 29: 64-85
N/A
2012
Creating Constituencies: Presidential Campaigns, Selective Mobilization, and the Scope of Conflict
Political Behavior 34: 27-56 (With Paul Martin)
N/A
2012
Presidential Campaigns and Presidential Accountability
University of Illinois Press, Series on Democracy, Free Enterprise, and the Rule of Law
N/A
2011
Making a Connection: Repetition and Priming in Campaigns
Journal of Politics 70: 1142-1159
N/A
2008
The Influence of Campaign Advertising
Encyclopedia of Public Opinion, Greenwood Press
N/A
2005
Gender Differences in Citizen-Level Democratic Citizenship: Evidence from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
Presented to the International Political Science Association (2000), the Midwest Political Science Association (2001), and the Conference on Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (2002)
N/A
2002 - 2000
- With Virginia Sapiro
- 2001 Winner, Sophonisba Breckenridge Award for best paper on Women & Politics, Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting
Reports, Projects, and Selected Writing
Virgina Evictors Catalog
The Equity Center, University of Virginia and The RVA Eviction Lab, Virginia Commonwealth University (With Kate Howell, Jacob Goldstein-Greenwood, Elizabeth Mitchell, Ben Teresa, Connor White, Barbara Brown Wilson, and Hannah Woerhle)
N/A
2022
Orange Dot Report 5.0: Family Self-Sufficiency in the Charlottesville Region
Network2Work@PVCC, Piedmont Virginia Community College and The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Ridge Schuyler, Lee LeBoeuf, and Beth Mitchell)
N/A
2022
Charlottesville Region Climate Equity Atlas
Picturing Climate Justice Exhibit, UVA Equity Center and the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center
N/A
2022
Report for TJPDC: Charlottesville and Albemarle Eviction Cases
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Jacob Goldstein-Greenwood and Michael Salgueiro)
N/A
2021
Albemarle County Equity Profile: Centering Equity in Evaluating Well-Being & Quality of LIfe for Albemarle County Residents
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Sam Powers, Michael Salgueiro, Siri Russell, Barbara Brown Wilson, and Alissa Ujie Diamond)
N/A
2021
Child Welfare Referrals in Charlottesville
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services (With Hannah Lewis and the Public Interest Data Lab)
N/A
2020
Charlottesville Foster Care Study
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services (With Charlotte McClintock and the Public Interest Data Lab)
N/A
2019
Charlottesville Child Welfare Study
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services (With Charlotte McClintock and the Public Interest Data Lab)
N/A
2018
Review of Competitive Elections and the American Voter, by Keena Lipsitz
Perspectives on Politics 10: 1030-1031
N/A
2013
Red State, Blue State: Demographic Change and Presidential Politics in Virginia
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service: Numbers Count, July (With Dustin Cable)
N/A
2012
Blacks in Virginia: Demographic Trends in Historical Context
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service: Numbers Count, April
N/A
2012
Fourth-Year Report: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
University of Wisconsin-Madison (With John Witte, Christopher Thorn, and Kim Pritchard)
N/A
1994
Grants and Awards
NSF CoPE Hub: Coastal Futures: Building Capacity for Data-driven Adaptation in Rural Coastal Communities
N/A
N/A
2026 - 2021
- Senior Personnel (PI: Karen McGlathery)
A Housing Justice Atlas for Virginia
4-VA at UVA Collaborative Research Program, University of Virginia
N/A
2021
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Barbara Brown Wilson, Kate Howell, Ben Teresa
The Charlottesville Regional Equity Atlas: Co-Creating with Our Community
New Venture Fund’s Public Interest Technology University Network Challenge
N/A
2021
- Principal Investigator, with Barbara Brown Wilson
Building a Collaborative Regional Equity Atlas
Institute for Museum and Library Services
N/A
2020 - 2018
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Rebecca Coleman
Thrive Grant for Project First Gen Plus
Office of the Provost and Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Virginia
N/A
2019
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Paul Martin
Creating a Data Catalog to Promote Access to Open Health Data
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
N/A
2018 - 2017
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Bart Ragon
Summer Research Grant
Vice-President for Research, University of Virginia
N/A
2006 - 2005
Excellence in Diversity Fellow
University of Virginia
N/A
2006 - 2005
Junior Faculty Research Grant
University of Oklahoma
N/A
2004 - 2003
Faculty Enrichment Grant
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma
N/A
2003
Instructional Technology Grant
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma
N/A
2002
Midwest Political Science Association Sophonisba Breckenridge Award
Best paper on Women in Politics presented at the annual meeting
N/A
2001
National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant
University of Wisconsin-Madison
N/A
2000
Clara Penniman Fellowship
Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin
N/A
1999
Recent Presentations
Workshop, Centering Equity in Data Visualization
Psychology Department DEI Colloquiam, UVA
N/A
2022
Speaker, Thoughts on Equitable Data Analysis
Virginia Equity Cohort, School of Data Science and Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, UVA
N/A
2022
Webinar, Mapping Inequity: Partnering for Data-Informed Decision Making
International City/County Management Association
N/A
2021
Speaker, Racial Covenants: The Continuing Legacy of Exclusionary Housing Practices in Albemarle County
Albemarle County
N/A
2021
Presenter, Albemarle County Equity Profile
Albemarle County Community Advisory Committees/Board of Supervisors
N/A
2021
Discussant, Data Feminism with Lauren Klein
Online Ethics Center, UVA
N/A
2021
Panelist, Being a Good Neighbor in Charlottesville
Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
N/A
2021
Presenter, Albemarle Equity Profile
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
N/A
2021
Speaker, A Justice-Oriented Data Science
Girls Hoo Code
N/A
2020
Panelist, Racial Equity and Technology
Public Interest Technology-University Network
N/A
2020
Panel Chair and Moderator
Data & Democracy, School of Data Science Datapalooza, University of Virginia
N/A
2019
Homework and Hubris: Preparing for Community-Engaged Courses
Innovations in Teaching Pedagogy Summit, University of Virginia (With Paul Martin)
N/A
2019
Smaller on the Outside: Supporting Researchers through Library andResearch Computing/IT Collaborations
Southeastern University Research Association IT Meeting
N/A
2018
Imagining New Ways to Engage Political News
UVA Library
N/A
2017
Bigger on the Inside: Integrating Research Data Services in Campus-Wide Networks
Coalition for Networked Information Fall Meeting
N/A
2016
Presidential Debate Analysis in R
UVA/CVille R User Meetup
N/A
2016
2016 Presidential Debates: Text as Data
DH@UVA Conference, University of Virginia and UVA/CvilleR User Meetup
N/A
2016
Congressional Earmarks and the Politcs of Representation
Center for the Study of Data and Knowledge, University of Virginia
N/A
2016
Data Services as Information Services: or, Old Wine, New Bottle
ALA Midwinter Meeting (With Ivey Glendon)
N/A
2014
Population Projections by Demographic Details: A Multi-Layered Approach
Annual Meeting of the Population Association of Americann (With Rebecca Tippett and Qian Cai)
N/A
2013
Multilevel Modeling for Population Projections: Projections for Virginia
Southern Demographic Association
N/A
2012
Professional Activities and Service
Batten Curricular Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2022 - 2021
Search Committee
Data Scientist, MDI Predictive Displacement Project, Save the Children, International
N/A
2021 - 2019
Reimagine CVA Advisory Board
Center for Nonprofit Excellence and United Way of Greater Charlottesville
N/A
2019 - 2020
Search Committee
Associate University Librarian for Research and Learning Services, UVA
N/A
2019
MAPP2Health Data Evaluation Committee
Thomas Jefferson Health District
N/A
2019 - 2018
Data Science Undergraduate Certificate Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2019 - 2018
Co-founder and co-organizer
UVA/CVille R Meetup
N/A
2019 - 2014
Judge, MSDS Capstone Projects
Systems & Information Engineering Design Symposium, UVA
N/A
2019 - 2015
Data Science Advisory Board
University of Virginia
N/A
2018 - 2014
Journal and Award Reviewer
N/A
N/A
2018 - 2002
- American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Political Psychology, Political Research Quarterly, American Politics Research, Politics and Gender, National Science Foundation, Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences
Advanced Computing Steering Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2017 - 2014
Organizer and Host, UVA DataFest
University of Virginia
N/A
2016
Quantitative Collaborative Steering Committee
Colleges of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia
N/A
2015 - 2013
Planning Committee for Graduate Certificate in Survey Research Methods
Colleges of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia
N/A
2013 - 2012
Section Chair, Elections and Voting Behavior
American Political Science Association Annual Meeting
N/A
2012
Philip E. Converse Book Award Committee
American Political Science Association’s Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Section
N/A
2011
Graduate Admissions Committee
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
N/A
2011 - 2010
Undergraduate Studies Committee
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
N/A
2011 - 2004
Section Chair, Electoral Campaigns
Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting
N/A
2008
Quantitative Reasoning Assessment Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2008 - 2007
Planning Committee for conference on Polling and Democracy
Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia
N/A
2008 - 2007
Comparative Politics Search Committee
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
N/A
2008 - 2007
Graduate Student Selection Committee
Society of Political Methodology’s Annual Meeting
N/A
2007 - 2006
Kennedy Oral History Research Director Search Committee
Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia
N/A
2005
Undergraduate Honors Thesis award committee
Department of Politics, University of Virginia
N/A
2005